In the following nights, much to Louis's annoyance, Jack had taken to spending the nights next to Louis in the same bed, holding him close with both of their blankets wrapped around them. No matter how much the kid claimed that he was fine, he'd been coughing more violently, and the colder it got, the worse he seemed.

Jack refused to let him get seriously sick before they got out. There wasn't much he could do though. He knew what this was. He still had a small sliver of hope that it was a bad cold, but Crutchie had always been prone to pneumonia, and Jack knew what it looked like. Of course, when it was Crutchie, they'd been able to save up for a doctor visit, and it always went away in the end. But the doctors were ignoring Louis, and this wasn't going away.

One night, Louis had wanted to go straight back to their room after dinner, and Jack had agreed. After a bit of a struggle, the boy had fallen asleep, and soon after, Jack could tell that he was also about to doze off despite himself.

He didn't get the chance, however, because just then, one of the security guards came into the room, making no effort to be quiet, and Jack was immediately wide awake as the guard glared at him.

"Come on, get up." The guard said, and Jack just stared at him. "Hurry up, wake that kid and get out of her."

"What... what're you...?" Jack was incredibly confused, and the guard sighed impatiently. 

"The place is getting closed down, we got orders to get everyone out in the next hour, so get up."

Jack sat up abruptly, eyes wide. "Yeah." He nodded quickly. "Yeah okay, we're going."

The other man nodded before leaving, thankfully. Jack pulled the covers back, eliciting protests from a half-asleep Louis. Jack shook him quickly and he opened his eyes, coughing a bit before looking up.

"What?"

"We gotta get up. Katherine did it, they're closed, and now we have to leave."

"We... we're leaving?"

Jack nodded, and the younger boy got up quickly and began to hurry out the door. "C'mon!" He called behind him, and Jack laughed before chasing after him.

They were ushered out the door, and it was madness outside. It looked like almost all the patients had gathered out there, talking amongst themselves, standing next to disinterested looking nurses. There were reporters, too. A lot of reporters, interviewing doctors, nurses, and patients.

Jack scanned the crowd, searching for one reporter in particular. It didn't take much effort - she was the only female reporter there, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw her.

"Katherine!" He called out, and she looked up from her notebook and looked around for a minute before she spotted him and her eyes lit up.

"Jack!"

That was all it took for Jack to take off in her direction, with Louis following quickly behind him. When they reached her, Jack practically tackled her in a hug, and held him tightly. This lasted for several minutes, and Louis politely looked away until they'd pulled apart.

"An angel come to save me..." Jack murmured softly, and Katherine smiled at him, giving him a quick kiss.

Louis suddenly broke into a coughing fit, unintentionally turning the attention on to him. Jack put a steady hand on his back, and he waved him off after a second. "I'm fine." Jack nodded, but simply moved his arm up to his shoulders.

Katherine knew immediately that something was wrong, but decided not to mention it yet. Instead, she just smiled at him. "Louis, it's good to see you again."

Louis smiled back, despite the fact that he was suddenly very aware of how cold it was. "You too."

She glanced around for a second. "I think I have enough for a follow up article. Let's go catch the next ferry."

So the three of them walked away from the asylum, Jack's hand still resting on Louis's shoulders, and his and Katherine's hands intertwined.